


Circadian Rhythm

by waterfallliam



Category: Pacific Rim (2013), Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Kissing, M/M, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 04:29:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7493862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterfallliam/pseuds/waterfallliam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A typical day in the life of doctors Geiszler and Gottlieb in the Shatterdome, until things take an atypical turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Circadian Rhythm

Hermann woke to a morning that started like any other. He grimaced at the pain in his leg, rubbed the dust out of his eyes and sighed as he saw the sky was, yet again, overcast. The coffee he nursed over breakfast was bad and did nothing to improve his foul mood.

“‘Morning!” Newt said, sitting down opposite. How Newt managed to look dishevelled at the start of a day was a puzzle that Hermann still hadn’t solved. Neither was why Hermann thought it was good look on him.

“Good morning,” Hermann replied, setting his cup down with a little more force than strictly necessary.

“Someone got up on the wrong side of bed,” Tendo said, slipping into the seat next to Newt’s.

“Only if any side is the wrong side,” Newt muttered. Hermann ignored the snicker that Tendo tried to hide behind his cup.

“There is only one side for me to get up on - my bed is pushed against a wall - as you well know Dr Geiszler,” Hermann said, leaning forward.

“Still the wrong side,” Newt grumbled, the steam from his coffee making his face flush, presumably.

“The last of the remains arrived this morning,” Tendo said. It was a good, albeit doomed, attempt to stop them arguing.

“Oh yeah? I can’t wait to get my hands on that kidney,” Newt grinned. Hermann sighed.

“No, see, it’s actually very interesting,” Newt said, turning to face Hermann again. “I’m hoping it actually is a kidney, because they would have to clean their blood somehow, right, even though it is acidic. There’s the whole issue of what they eat, and how they digest it, how the nutrients get transported. Their blood could get diluted by, well, anything alkaline-”

“Aren’t you chipper this morning,” Hermann interjected as Newt stuffed some of his breakfast into his mouth.

“Well if you started the day with a positive attitude, maybe you could understand why I do,” Newt said, not missing a beat. “It works wonders for scientific discovery.”

“I would rather reap the benefits of definitive thought and logical thinking.” Hermann frowned.

“Oh yes, a good mood is only a distraction,” Newt said sarcastically.

“I never said a good mood would interfere, only artificial positivity that-”

“I’ll see you two later,” Tendo said, standing up.

“Bye,” Newt said. Hermann nodded.

“That was your fault,” Newt said. Hermann raised an eyebrow. They finished their breakfast quickly before heading to pick up the last specimen.

\---

“K-science coming through, get out of the way, this is a genuine article,” Newt said importantly as he dragged the final kaiju specimen through the base. The last attack had been almost just over a day ago now. Hermann was half a step behind Newt, motioning for people to step out of the way with his free hand. It was an unnecessary gesture - most of the PPDC happily avoided the two man K-science division.

“That was one time, Newton, and you realised it was a fake within four minutes,” Hermann huffed.

“Fool me once,” Newt said, turning his head to give Hermann a glare over his shoulder.

“Shame on you,” Hermann said wryly, just catching Newt’s annoyed smile before he returned his gaze to the corridor.

“Har har Hermann,” Newt retorted as they rounded a corner.

“Watch out!” Hermann said as the tank lurched a little over a slight step but Newt was pressing onwards, vibrating with excitement. Hermann sighed. The tanks were relatively robust, and the risk was minimal, however-

“Careful, Doctor Geiszler,” a deep voice interrupted the biting remark Hermann was articulating in his head. “The PPDC pays good money for Kaiju specimens, an accident would be rather unfortunate.”

“Marshal!” Newt exclaimed, and Hermann’s back went ramrod straight, his left hand snapping to his temple. “Oh, yes, of course.” Newt gingerly rubbed the back of his neck. The Marshal passed them with a nod and a faint smile, but his eyes looked tired, strained. It was not secret the he was trying to pool all remaining available resources on the planet to help save it. They were the last jaegers standing, so to speak.

Newt rolled his eyes when he saw Hermann saluting. Hermann glared at Newt when he started dragging the tank along at a only marginally slower pace.

“Careful,” Hermann warned, his voice low.

“I am being careful, just fast at the same time,” Newt said. “Isn’t it a beauty?” Hermann didn’t deign reply. He hated the sight of the yellow tanks and random bits of Kaiju in the lab.

Newt’s excitement didn’t falter, nor did it abate as the afternoon dragged on. He switched between excitedly murmuring to himself, loudly talking to himself and listening to his current obsession in music.

It was arguably already evening when Hermann noticed Mako enter their lab, her greeting swallowed by Newt’s loud and obnoxious music.

“Will you turn that blasted racket down Doctor Geiszler!” Hermann shrieked. After working with Newt in close quarters for so long he had learned that noise cancelling headphones were an invention that deserved more recognition than they usually received.

“Alright, alright, Herms,” Newt said, elbow deep in Kaiju entrails, “but you should really try to appreciate the genius of the genre.” He stretched his leg out so he could turn the dial for the volume down with his foot. Hermann followed the stretch of his jean clad leg - did he really have to wear skinny jeans all the time? - before turning his attention back to the door.

“Thank you,” Hermann said, walking towards Mako. “Hello, Miss Mori.”

“Mako,” Newt grinned, foregoing waving.

“To what do we owe the pleasure?” Hermann asked, sitting down at his desk. Mako sat down beside him. Apart from the Marshal, Mako and occasionally Tendo, guests were rare in their lab.

“I had some questions about the restoration of Danger,” Mako said, tapping the screen of her pad as she opened some schematics. Hermann put his glasses on.

The nickname Danger had quickly caught on around the dome after more than one engineer had pointed out that gypsy was a slur. Though the Marshal had petitioned an official name change, the higher ups hadn’t changed it, although they had allegedly dealt with the person who had done the naming. As far as anyone in the dome was concerned though, the Mark-3 Jaeger was called Danger, which was all that mattered now that they were the last Shatterdome.

“Here,” Mako said, pointing at the wiring for the pilot's hand controls in the Conn-pod.

“Ah, the feedback cradle.”

“Yes. I was hoping to improve the link and interface, like in the Mark-5.” It was no secret that the technology had improved, if only marginally, from one year to the next. “But I don’t know how adaptive Danger’s programming is.” Hermann sat in silence for a minute.

“It would be easier to slightly alter the code for the cradles,” Hermann said, turning his own holographic computer on.

“Slightly?” Mako asked, frowning.

“Yeah, the last time you said slightly you barely slept for two days!” Newt commented.

“That was because the change was slight, but it had to be done for all aspects of the neurological handshake and its interface with the more physical systems of a Jaeger,” Hermann said, opening Danger’s code.

“And this is different because the code for the neurological interface is the same for all systems,” Mako asserted.

“Oh,” Newt said, peeling off his gloves and walking towards the sink to wash his hands.

“It’ll probably take a few hours,” Hermann said, turning away from the screen, flicking the switch to turn it off again.

“Alright,” Mako said, “I’ll pick it up tomorrow?” Hermann nodded.

“Thank you Doctor Gottlieb.”

“You’re welcome, until tomorrow.”

Mako nodded at Newt who waved this time, spraying droplets of water around his side of the lab.

“So what exactly are you doing?” Newt asked.

“I’m integrating some more advanced programming from Striker Eureka’s code into Danger’s code to improve pilot to Jaeger interfacing.”

“So, you’re making it easier to control?”

“Not exactly. Not all control of the human body is conscious. We don’t need to think about all the individual steps for a movement once we’ve learned it. But these movements don’t always translate that well to a Jaeger, since they are humanoid, not human. Which is where the code helps.”

“That makes sense,” Newt said faintly. Hermann raised an eyebrow, as if to ask _you expected it not to?_

“I just never thought about it much,” Newt admitted, adjusting his glasses.

“Well,” Hermann started, “maybe if you did more thinking-”

“I do! The problem with the Kaiju is that they are all so different! It makes so little sense, how they all have such similar qualities yet such different ones, too! Look,” Newt turned around and walked three steps towards a collage of pictures of Kaiju remains on the wall, “they all have acidic, ammonia based blood; they themselves are all silicon based and yet-” Newt pointed first to a Kaiju head with a crest on top that reminded Hermann of a Parasaurolophus. The second picture he pointed to was of a flat, squashed Kaiju head.

“You see, these creatures have obviously had to have evolved in similar environments to account for similar size, the similarities in their blood, their physical development for superiority whilst fighting… yet the Kaiju that come through the breach are all so completely different! I have found no discernable subsets, only vague indications of common heritage…” Newt trailed off as he looked back to see Hermann’s unimpressed expression.

“Maybe you need a more positive attitude,” Hermann said.

“Oh, right, why don’t you make a model,” Newt said snidely. “Then maybe  we can predict the next time I’m in a good enough mood to solve the mystery of Kaiju evolution!” Hermann felt a spike of anger.

“When my predictive model is finished-”

“I know, but maybe it never will be! Maybe their attacks are as random as their biology.” Newt ran his hands through his hair frustratedly.

“There is a pattern Newton, and I will find it. Just as I’m sure your fascination with Kaiju will spurn you to demystify them,” Hermann sighed and removed his glasses. He stood up, put his coat on and reached for his cane that he’d leant against his desk.

“Perhaps it’s time we took a short break,” Hermann suggested. The last time Newt had gotten mopey in the lab he’d made that unorganised collage and had forgotten to label the specimens he’d put in the freezer. At this point Hermann had accepted that the PPDC was going to continue ignoring his complaints, so avoiding the worst seemed a sound strategy.

“Sure,” Newt said absentmindedly. Putting a problem out of mind for a while could also help solve it.

\---

“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight,” Hermann said quietly and took a drag from his cigarette. They were sitting out on the roof, a marginally popular haunt for the smokers in the dome.

“I thought you quit,” Newt said, pulling a face.

“I did, this is the exception that proves the rule,” Hermann said, pulling his hand out of the pocket of his coat where he kept a pack and lighter. Newt laughed, the sound refreshing against the hum of the dome beneath them. They had sat down with their backs against the outcrop with the door, looking in the direction of the fenced off edge. The horizon was laced with a milky crimson, splitting the glowing city and the fading blue of the sky in two.

“Is there a reason you wanted me to come up here with you?” Newt asked a minute later. “You could have kept your secret a little longer.”

“It’s nice and quiet up here,” Hermann said, “good for thinking.”

“Oh, I know you prefer quiet.”  Which Hermann usually only got when Newt was asleep, or deeply engrossed and he hadn’t turned his music on.

“Like you prefer not to have Kaiju entrails on your side of the lab, how you prefer not to have me call you by your first name in public, how you secretly love the fibonacci sequence above all other mathematical phenomena, how you abhor my tattoos, my clothes-”

“They’re unprofessional,” Hermann grumbled, glancing at Newt’s skinny jeans again. He was loathe to admit to himself just how good Newt looked in them. That would mean he would have to reconcile the fact that he was looking. That no matter how vexing Newt was, he was still the cleverest man Hermann had ever had met, and maybe the most attractive. And also, probably not interested in Hermann.

“I’m eccentric - like you! That librarian look wasn’t even in before the war started.”

“I’m not trying to look like a librarian.” Hermann had had enough of his cigarette so he put it out. He flicked the long butt away. “Maybe I like these clothes.”

“Well, maybe I like mine, too,” Newt said petulantly.

“That’s no excuse for your hair!”

“What’s wrong with my hair?”

“It’s all over the place,” Hermann hissed. Newt started patting it down self consciously.

“You’re making it worse,” Hermann said. Before he could think better of it, he reached over and started to pat it down for him, threading his fingers through it. Newt sat stiffly, his hands sliding down to rest in his lap.

Newt’s hair was unexpectedly soft, even with the wax he’d used to style it that morning. Hermann tried not to linger, methodically trying to get it to look like it did when he saw Newt at breakfast. He scooted closer to get a better angle.

“There, much better already,” Hermann said.

“I’m gonna have to trust you that you aren’t making me look ridiculous,” Newt said, turning to face Hermann.

“You don’t need my help for that,” Hermann said, rolling his eyes. Newt made a face.

“All done,” Hermann said quietly, slowly pulling his hand away.

“Thanks,” Newt said, his face close to Hermann’s. Newt’s eyes were pale green. Hermann could see the sunset reflected back at him in them. Pink and blue and green. Newt’s gaze briefly dropped to his lips. He could feel the light puff if Newt’s breath against his skin.

Hermann felt a shift, like when he finally solved an equation. Could it be that Newt, too, had been hoping for more than friendship...

A surge of courage rushed through him. A heartbeat in which Hermann didn’t dare think passed and he leant forward, closing the gap between them. He tentatively pressed his lips to Newt’s.

The kiss was chaste at first, just a gentle pressure, the only touch connecting them. But then Newt scrunched his hands in Hermann’s jacket, gently tugged him closer and opened his mouth against Hermann’s. Hermann melted into the kiss, his eyes slipping shut. His right hand came up to cup Newt’s jaw while his left arm was wedged between them and the wall.

Newt’s face was warm, and Hermann brushed his thumb over his cheek. Newt’s stubble was a little rough under the pad of his thumb. Newt’s lips were soft against his own. The kiss was warm, slow and gentle. As if they had all the time in the world. As if there was no war clock, no impending apocalypse.

“Hermann,” Newt said, drawing back. His voice cracked a little. Hermann opened his eyes. Newt’s mouth hung open a bit, his glasses were slightly fogged up and askew, but that didn’t hide the smile in his eyes.

“Newton,” Hermann smiled. The sunset looked so beautiful in Newton’s eyes.

“You should do that more often,” Newt said.

“Kiss you? I agree,” Hermann replied, leaning his forehead against Newt’s.

“I meant smile, actually. But I’m a big fan of kissing, too.” Newt took his glasses off and slid them into one of the deep pockets of Hermann’s coat. He left his palm on Hermann’s side.

“Can we do it again?” Newt asked. Hermann nodded.

This time it wasn’t as tentative. Any uncertainty left about Newt had been cast out of Hermann’s mind. Newt might well be the most annoying person he’d ever met, but they were friends. Friends who argued constantly, got under each other’s skin and ultimately pushed each other like no one else could. Hermann cared about Newt, and as much as he hated Newt’s loud music, his disorganisation, his tight clothing that was not suitable and his unprofessional tattoos… he loved Newt. And there was no point running from that, not when they were running out of time to save the world.

Newt held onto Hermann’s side as he pulled himself closer, twisting to make the angle more comfortable for Hermann. Hermann ignored the rough wall behind him and ran his tongue along Newt’s bottom lip. Newt gasped. Like when they argued, they both gave as good as they got. A little nip of Hermann’s bottom lip elicited a groan from him. One of his hands reached up to cup the back of Newt’s neck, his fingers twisting in Newt’s hair. They stayed like that, fervently kissing each other, for a few minutes before they broke apart again.

“Don’t think this means I will happily endure your obnoxious music,” Herman panted, his eyes crinkling.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Oh really?”

“Really,” Newt said and kissed Hermann again.

They stayed on the roof a little while longer before they went back inside. They argued over dinner, they argued back in the lab, like any other day. But when it was time to turn in for the night, they shared a quick kiss before returning to their bunks.

Hermann lay awake longer than usual, his thoughts swirling with how Newt had tasted, how his body had felt pressed up close to his own. Kissing Newt felt incredible.

The next morning, to everyone’s complete lack of surprise, Hermann awoke in a foul mood, his leg aching and the coffee bad. But he was happy, later, when he and Newt shared dinner in their lab after a long day of science and scathing remarks. He was happy when they held hands. When they kissed again. When the world at war didn’t seem quite so bleak after all.

**Author's Note:**

> "Hermann fixes Newt’s hair and they kiss" was written at the top of the document for this fic. unbeta'd. I had fun writing this, and I hope it wasn't too ooc or off the mark! (I'm just glad I actually finished something for the first time in months tbh) :) hope it was an enjoyable read, thanks for reading!


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